All the celebrities* running in local elections around the country this year
For those who love to follow weird local celebrity gossip, it's slim pickings out there at the moment. Noel Edmonds has gone quiet, Brad Pitt has left the building by way of McDonald's drive-thru, and Jay-Jay and Minou's love story can only sustain interest for so long (although admittedly mine is yet to wane). We are left with nothing but mourning for Sam Neill's beloved duck Magda, and there's not even a season of Celebrity Treasure Island this year to numb the pain of it all.
If you've been left wondering what happened to all the quirky and interesting well-known personalities of Aotearoa, I recently discovered where many of them have been hiding out: local body politics. And while it took a little while to weed out the real big names from the flagrant imposters (looking at you Tony Bennett in Dunedin, Paul Williams in Waimakariri, Bill Hammond in Upper Hutt City), this year boasts a truly impressive number of celebrities* hitting the campaign trail.
Anne 'The Champagne Lady' Batley-Burton (Auckland)
The champagne importer, cat enthusiast and Real Housewives of Auckland star made big headlines in June, first announcing that she would be running for Auckland Council's Waitematā Local Board before also revealing that she was accidentally bowled over by her husband's car while trying to rescue a roaming cat. Running on the centre-right C&R ticket, Batley-Burton told the Herald she wants to reduce crime in Auckland's CBD ('quite scary'), stop the 'free for all' of housing intensification, and make desexing and microchipping free for cat owners. For more insights, here's a tipsy dispatch after I spent a whole day sipping champagne with her in 2017.
Jamaine Ross (Auckland)
You may know him for being crack-up on things like Frickin' Dangerous Bro, Guy Mont Spelling Bee, 7 Days and Have You Been Paying Attention, but Waitākere Ranges Local Board candidate Jamaine Ross now has a serious message: don't vote for him. 'Please don't,' the comedian pleaded from the front seat of his car in a recent video. 'This isn't a gag, this isn't a joke, this isn't some kind of weird reverse psychology thing to try and convince you to vote for me. Don't vote for me. I don't want to do it, OK?' Intriguing, confusing and conversation-starting for sure.
Michael Organ (Whanganui)
Famous for a star turn in the David Farrier documentary Mister Organ, Michael Organ is running for one of 10 Whanganui General Ward councillor positions on Whanganui District Council this year and I am genuinely too scared to write anything else.
Pennywize (Wellington)
Let the chills continue with this homage to an evil clown who famously lures kids into drains with paper boats and then eats them. Luckily, this Pennywize (with a z) is mostly looking to return 'sanity, common sense, swamps, moa and hokioi Haast's eagles to the streets of Te Whanganui-a-Tara' in their mayoral bid this year. If your blood is curdled by the idea of a horror sound-a-like roaming the streets, you just wait till you hear who is running in Ōamaru (Ferdie Kruger).
Teal Mau (Wellington)
Hairdresser Teal Mau captured our hearts when he competed with wife Sophia in My Kitchen Rules NZ in 2017. 'The coolest MKR chef remains 'international man of mystery' Teal, who it is revealed everyone is scared of because he looks a lot like Johnny Depp and almost never talks,' we wrote at the time. The comparison appears to have stuck around, not helped by the fact that Mau recently responded to a NZ Herald question about Depp with the phrase 'parley' – a pirate negotiation term lifted directly from The Pirates of the Caribbean movies. Mau is running for one of three Pukehīnau/Lambton General Ward councillor positions on Wellington Council, where he wants to give business owners a voice, keep young people in the city, and presumably find the beating heart of Davy Jones.
Will Hall (Christchurch)
He's faced down the Ferndale Strangler, but how might he handle the constituents of Christchurch? You might recognise Will Hall as Dr Kip Denton from Shortland Street, or the mutton-chopped Mike McCarthy from Westside, but the actor has more recently been gunning for a new role: repping the good people of Heathcote Ward on the Waihoro Spreydon-Cashmere-Heathcote Community Board. Running with the campaign slogan 'where there's a Will, there's a way,' Hall told Stuff in 2022, when he unsuccessfully ran for ward councillor, that there was Nothing Trivial (another show he starred in for several years) about his acting background: 'I'm new to politics and that's an advantage; no preconceptions, I'm independent, energetic with common-sense.'
Mandy Mayhem (Dunedin)
In a way, Mandy Mayhem being one of the 1,000 people in the Dunedin Study is about as famous as you can get. OK, so you're involved in the world's most detailed longitudinal study of human development? That DO impress-a me much. The Dunedin mayoral candidate is also a ringmaster, a black belt in taekwondo, spent six years on the Waikouaiti-Coast Community Board, and was elected as a Dunedin City councillor in 2022. She's also been described as a ' pirate queen ' – just don't tell Teal up in Wellies or we might have to hose down the Black Pearl.
Suzanne Prentice (Invercargill)
She's performed with Dolly Parton, Johnny Cash and basically every single New Zealand child alive for the Kids for Kids national tour in the 90s and 2000s, but these days you're more likely to find country music legend Suzanne Prentice in a meeting than on the big stage. First challenging Tim Shadbolt for the mayoralty in 2010, Prentice has since become a familiar name in Invercargill local politics and is now dreamin' her dreams of being re-elected to the Invercargill Licensing Trust in 2025. (PS: I don't know what the NZ equivalent of an EGOT is, but Prentice has already nabbed a New Year's honour and a star on the walk of fame this year alone.)
Steve Broad (Invercargill)
Speaking of Invercargill crooners, it's only bloody Steve Broad from NZ Idol and X Factor NZ! First arriving on our screens in 2005, all wide eyes and long hair, the blondini from the south came third in season two of NZ Idol (later won by Rosita Vai). A whole decade later, he returned to the singing competition stage for X Factor NZ in 2015, a season so massively overshadowed by the Kills-Moon explosion that we all forgot his moving rendition of ' Summertime Sadness '. He outlasted suit thief Joe Irvine, but Broad was eliminated in the quarter finals. In 2023, he successfully ran in the Invercargill City Council byelection, and will be looking to ' Stay ' on as a councillor in 2025.
Paddy O'Brien (Invercargill)
Invercargill's stardust continues to shine with O'Brien, the world's first ever professional rugby referee who is also standing for re-election to the Invercargill Licensing Trust this year. O'Brien refereed the first ever professional match between the Hurricanes and the Blues in 1996, and went on to referee 80 more Super Rugby matches, two Rugby World Cups, and 218 first-class matches.
Marcus Lush (Invercargill)
OK, Invercargill is basically Madame Tussaud's at this point. Although he called 'bullshit' on the celebrity title back in 2022, there's no denying that councillor candidate Marcus Lush is a heavy hitter to round out the city's cavalcade of celebri– sorry, notable characters. He has been in the public eye (and/or ear) since the late 80s, be it fronting documentary series like Off the Rails and South, or hosting stints on bFM, Radio Live and his current late-night gig on Newstalk ZB. An impressive CV, but even someone as experienced as Lush can admit his shortcomings. 'I'm not a Kardashian,' he once told The Spinoff. 'It's not like I've done a sex tape.'
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RNZ News
16 hours ago
- RNZ News
Mayoral hopeful Kerrin Leoni attacks Wayne Brown's financial record
Auckland councillor and mayoral candidate Kerrin Leoni Photo: Supplied / NZ Herald The main challenger for the Auckland mayoralty has launched a broadside at Wayne Brown, saying he failed to fix the city, as he promised. Auckland councillor and mayoral candidate Kerrin Leoni faced the media for the first time on Thursday morning since releasing her fiscal policy plan . "Three years ago, Wayne Brown swaggered into Auckland, saying that he was going to fix Auckland. "The feedback we're getting is that there has been no fix for Auckland. We've got the same issues happening right across the city, our debt has increased by $1 billion, our rates have gone up by over 20 percent, and Aucklanders are really unhappy with what they're getting at the moment from council." She accused the mayor of not managing council finances well. "Our most significant asset, the Auckland Airport shares is gone, it has been sold, and it's never coming back. "He sold our biggest asset, but has still had to raise rates and increase our debt. I don't think his management of funds has been the best, and we could do a lot better." She said the council's lease on the Ports of Auckland could be under threat if Brown was re-elected. As part of her fiscal plan, Leoni proposed that a 75 percent council majority be met or a public referendum be held before the council sold any of its strategic assets. "We want to ensure we're not selling any more strategic assets in the future. "The Ports of Auckland could still be on the table if Wayne Brown gets back in. There's no legal document regarding the sale of the ports in the future that stops him from doing that. "The North Harbour Stadium is another strategic asset that could be sold under his leadership in the next term. He has talked about that in the past." She conceded that her policy to cut spending on consultants by 40 percent was a goal, and that it might be closer to 30 percent in reality. Auckland mayor Wayne Brown Photo: RNZ / Marika Khabazi In a statement to RNZ, mayor Brown pushed back on Leoni's economic plan, questioning her credibility. "Her announcement can't be taken seriously. "She directly voted against plans to reduce spending in the current term. She has not bought solutions to the council table. She has not established any credibility on these issues. "It is concerning that she wants a 'fiscal policy', which is set by central government rather than a council financial plan. If she wants to challenge those settings, she is standing for the wrong office." Leoni also pledged to cap rates rises to below or at the inflation rate from the second year of her term if elected. When asked by RNZ if he would match this, Brown said he would continue to keep rates as low as possible. "Her promise doesn't match her voting record on council. Mine does. I have kept rates as low as possible through reducing wasteful spending, driving down costs, and improving asset performance. That's my renewed pledge." In response to the mayor's comments, Leoni said all Auckland councillors had voted to reduce spending. "In terms of solutions, one clear solution we voted on to save money for Aucklanders was the $50 cap for public transport in the city."
Newsroom
2 days ago
- Newsroom
Crown and council to take voting edge over Māori on Waitakeres body
Joint oversight of the Waitakere Ranges by Māori, Auckland Council and the Crown will not now be through a committee with equal representation after feedback from west Aucklanders, some opposed to 'co-governance'. From initial proposals of an equal five seats for tangata whenua and five representing public bodies, the latest deed to establish the oversight committee has moved to six to five in favour of the council and Crown entities. The change leaves west Auckland-based iwi Te Kawerau ā Maki feeling 'a little bruised, and beaten up' after years of waiting, but accepting it 'could live with' the council's change of representation and wanting to get on and protect the ranges. Iwi chief executive Edward Ashby told Newsroom: 'It was pretty clear there was a fear – and I do think it is an irrational fear because it's an advisory body and we are not the boogie man. But we are really focused on the outcome. We are not too worried by the numbers.' The deed for the Waitakere Ranges Heritage Area Forum, a body to be set up under a 2008 law but only now being finalised, goes before Auckland Council's policy and planning committee on Thursday. The Waitākere Ranges Heritage Area Act recognised the 27,700 hectares of publicly owned land in the ranges as nationally significant, needing protection. It specified the Crown, council and nominated iwi to develop the deed and oversight body, a non-statutory body to identify areas of cooperation and develop a strategic plan for the area. It aims to identify areas tangata whenua can contribute to the management of public land and to acknowledge their traditional relationship with the ranges. The five seats for Māori are initially to be taken up by Te Kawerau ā Maki, as another iwi listed in the Act, Ngāti Whātua, has declined. Under the deed, there will be no change of ownership of land under the deed or forum structure, and the forum would not be able to direct spending of council or Crown funds, other than its own delegated budget. In April, the New Zealand First party complained the forum would be an example of 'co-governance' with Māori able to set strategy and veto council or government measures related to the ranges. MP Shane Jones said his party would never agree to an iwi having '50 percent sovereignty over the Waitakere forest'. Ashby dismissed the criticisms in April as scaremongering and said the forum as proposed was not co-governance. If it had been, there would have been a different structure and entity established. The deed simply acknowledged tangata whenua's special relationship with the ranges area. Around 2250 people and organisations made public submissions on the heritage forum deed, with 51 percent in favour, 39 percent against and 10 percent recorded as 'other'. Analysis of the submissions by research firm Ipsos said there was concern among those opposed to the deed at the prospect of 50-50 representation on the joint committee giving tangata whenua 'disproportionate influence' over management of the public land. Those in favour of the deed and shared oversight acknowledged the iwi role of kaitiaki or guardian and the importance of tangata whenua having a strong voice and seat at the table. It appears that public feedback, rather than the political claims by NZ First and the Act Party, has now seen the forum membership weighting changed to favour the public bodies. Council staff recommend three seats for the Waitakere Local Board, two for the council governing body and one for the Department of Conservation – and five seats to be occupied by Te Kawerau ā Maki, to be shared with Ngāti Whātua should that iwi choose at a later date to participate. The role of chair would come from the iwi side and deputy chair from the public bodies. Waitakere ward councillor Shane Henderson says the composition of the forum changed 'in response to feedback, not to scaremongering from central government politicians but the voices of West Aucklanders that fed back into the process'. He said the new balance allowed half of the six-member Waitakere local board to join the forum, with two ward councillors. DoC's strong interests in the heritage area also needed representation. 'So the new numbers work a little better on that basis too.' Te Kawerau ā Maki chief executive Edward Ashby. Photo: Supplied Ashby says the change in representation came after the consultation and was put to Te Kawerau ā Maki by the council. 'It's a place the council came to that we could live with at the end of the day. It's about giving these people some certainty that there would not be a super majority of Māori on the committee. There's been a lot of misunderstanding of the original proposal. 'It's good the deed is out there and people can read it; it clearly says it's advisory, about public land, it does not have power to make any decisions about budgets. That's all in there.' He said the political claims from Jones and Act's David Seymour, among others, led to fears among some members of the public. 'I do understand that if you are reading scaremongering headlines on Facebook you might react. It's unfortunate. 'It's just the political reality of the time. The original proposal was for 50-50, not out of any power grab but simply that the Crown and council was on one side of the equation and on the other side was Te Kawerau ā Maki and Ngāti Whātua. It was as simple as that.' He noted much of the feedback against the proposed deed had come from beyond Waitakere and Auckland. 'But, there's this beautiful area. It's our heartland and I'm biased. It really needs to be looked after. We really need to get together on how we make it work.' The six-five composition of the forum was 'at least an outcome that takes some of the edge out of some people's concerns, even though I think they were not well-founded concerns'. He hoped the compromise result did not turn the clock back in other areas of the country. 'I like to think most New Zealanders are fair minded … and I would hope that progress made is not lost. There's been some really good progressive stories.' The council's policy and planning committee considers the proposed deed on Thursday, with the full Governing Body having the final say before the forum is appointed. Ashby says: 'We just want to get on with it.'
NZ Herald
2 days ago
- NZ Herald
Auckland: 5 paths to prosperity for a could-be super city
Auckland unemployment is 6.1% against New Zealand's 5.2%. Economic growth for the year to March was negative: -1.3% compared with –1.1%. Only 44% of businesses are optimistic, according to the Auckland Business Chamber, down from 51% in its previous survey. And in May, Auckland Council's outreach teams counted 809 people in the city who were 'unsheltered homeless': a 90% increase since September. Fix this now, says everyone. But how? Last week the Business Chamber's CEO Simon Bridges suggested that corporates need a tax cut. He has a fine sense of humour, that man, so perhaps he was joking. Corporate Auckland has done extremely well out of the last five years. No one else has. The banks, with their record profits, have the power to drive progress. But they don't. The big 'service' companies, aka the consultancies, have the influence to make a difference, but do they use it well? As for the big energy companies, where is their shame? These companies don't need a tax break, they need a conscience top-up. I did like the way Bridges phrased his suggestion, though. As BusinessDesk reported, he said the Government needs to stir up Auckland's 'animal spirits'. Tap into the superpowers of the Super City. Very cool. And he wasn't talking about mere movement in interest rates. 'I do think,' Bridges said, 'there is an argument for fiscal stimulus that's pretty strong, actually'. Finance Minister Nicola Willis has also taken to using the 's' word. She claims they are already 'stimulating' the economy; the recent re-announcement of $6 billion of infrastructure investments was designed to make the same point. I love it when centre-right politicians talk like they're Keynesians. But what they're proposing is not enough: we need fresh thinking and a much stronger, future-focused plan. Such a thing would include a decent regional deal, which is now in negotiation, to unlock new sources of funding. And a much better working relationship with Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei: the iwi has $1.5b in assets and its own 100-year plan, but is not integrated into economic planning for the city in anything like the way Tainui or Ngai Tahu are on their whenua. Why is Auckland dragging its heels on that? What about a programme to learn from kura kaupapa, which produce academic, social and cultural results that many schools in poor parts of the city would love to match? And a stronger climate-resilience strategy, because more floods are coming. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon told RNZ on Monday he didn't see how a special package could be applied to Auckland. Really? As well as all the above, here you are, boss, a five-point plan for a prosperous Auckland you can have for free. All it needs is a spot of courage. 1. Fast-tracked transit Prime Minister Christopher Luxon (left) with NZ First leader Winston Peters and Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown, about to ride the CRL under central Auckland. Photo / Michael Craig Luxon rode a train through the City Rail Link last week and was reportedly thrilled. Also last week, the managing director of KiwiSaver fund Simplicity, Sam Stubbs, revealed that by his calculation, 30% of all KiwiSaver funds are invested locally. That's $295b available for productive investment over the next 25 years. Luxon called the CRL 'a major, major feat' that would spur $12b of investment in the economic life of the city. It was 'a bit like Star Trek', he added. And Stubbs' news effectively meant there's enough money to build many more rapid-transit lines. Imagine it: faster travel times and less congestion, boosting economic life all over the city. There are many options for new transit routes, including a second North Shore line, city centre to the airport, Botany to the airport, Westgate to Albany, Avondale to Onehunga, not to mention faster progress on the already-planned Northwest Busway and the under-construction Eastern Busway. There are also mode options for all these routes: light rail, rapid bus, even gondolas. I don't have a fixed view on which should be built first or what modes of transport they should be, except to say tunnels are too expensive, too slow to build and use too much concrete. The Labour Government failed to grasp that we need more transit as quickly as possible. What's holding National back? By the way, I mention gondolas because they are easy, fast and relatively cheap to build, the technology is proven, and they might serve very well on second-tier routes. Te Atatu to New Lynn, perhaps, or Browns Bay to Takapuna to Devonport? Set up a route, for only few million, and see if it creates proof of concept. Fresh thinking. 2. A new energy deal Bridges has been blunt about energy too. 'Energy today is a severe handbrake on business and the economy,' he wrote in the Herald. 'Before 2018, long-term energy contracts averaged $70-$80 per MWh. But since 2021 the average has been $150-plus per MWh and over the last year it's averaged a whopping $190 per MWh.' This is a nightmare for businesses and a government that tolerates it is a government that simply isn't taking economic development seriously. Bridges called for the big gentailers to have their generation and retail functions separated. Almost everyone else agrees, except the gentailers themselves. But while that's needed, it's not all we need and it's not the quickest way to a fix. Solar is now the cheapest way to generate power and batteries make it easy to store, and Auckland is perfect for it. Vast swathes of the city are covered in warehouse and factory roofs. Where are the solar panels? What about residential solar? The Government could supercharge the industry, creating jobs, providing cheap energy and shoring up supply. In Melbourne, around a third of electricity comes from solar; in Auckland, it's less than 2%. 3. Kickstart homebuilding Remember this? Houses being built in Auckland. How did a Government committed to growth allow the momentum of this to collapse? Crashing residential construction will go down as one of the biggest blunders of this Government, especially as it was triggered by the destruction of Kāinga Ora's social and affordable housing programme. Communities were undermined, many people's hopes of a new home vanished, and over the last 18 months the country has lost 17,000 construction workers. Most of the pain has been felt in Auckland. Kāinga Ora needed fixing, to be sure, but not by wrecking an entire industry. As the economy shrank in the post-Covid world, the Government should have stimulated, not retrenched. Now there's a lot to do. Incentives for the return of at least some of those workers. Ramped-up education and training, fast-tracked new projects, new life for off-site production, industry reforms to bring down construction costs. Most of all, the reinstatement of projects cancelled or 'put on hold'. Parallel importing of construction products is now allowed. That's great, but what about the rest? 4. Modern freight management Empty containers hanging about in Wiri. Photo / Alex Burton Some of our freight companies are among the most go-ahead outfits in the country, but the Government's grasp of how their industry works is stuck in the 1980s. Auckland should not be using valuable waterfront land as a freight depot, let alone for storing empty containers. And trucks should not be clogging the highways, making those roads less efficient and more dangerous for everyone else. The freight industry itself is onto this, despite a lack of leadership from the Government, the mayor or even Port of Auckland. The future of freight logistics is now located in Hamilton, where the vast Ruakura Inland Port sits alongside the main trunk line and the Waikato Expressway. It's an initiative of Port of Tauranga and Waikato-Tainui. And it won't be long before a rail line to Northport, at Marsden Point in Northland, unlocks the potential of that port. Auckland shouldn't be worried about these things. It's good that freight management in the upper North Island is evolving. But we do need a coordinated plan and Auckland needs to be part of it. We need a far more functional rail network, including a fourth rail line to get goods to inland ports and off the waterfront quickly and efficiently. Instead, most Government ministers are focused myopically on spending billions on more roads. It's a colossal waste of money. We need roads. But we could have a good road to Northland without it being a super-expensive four-lane expressway. And we certainly don't need the proposed East-West Link, a highway to link Penrose to Ōtāhuhu, replacing Neilson St. The Northern Expressway and the EW Link are both are 'roads of national significance' (RONS). But the only 'significance' of the EW Link is that it will manage the freight traffic at Port of Tauranga's MetroPort facility, located along the route. Moving MetroPort away and freeing the isthmus land for housing is a far better option. RONS like those two are to National what tunnelled light rail was to Labour: absurdly expensive, going nowhere slowly, a pointless distraction from the realistic options we have to solve our transport crisis. 5. Big events Metallica is returning to New Zealand in November. But what about all the other events we should have? Events are vital to the life of a city, for the visitors who come to spend money and for the vibe. Never underestimate the vibe. Auckland's current schedule of events includes a Springbok test, SailGP and Metallica, but the programme is light and getting lighter. This can't be turned around in a hurry, what with the long-term planning of sports world cups and the like, and especially as the council has eviscerated its own budget for big events. Which is why this needs urgent attention. None of these five things is wacky or weird. They're little more than what we should be able to expect from any government, even a business-as-usual one. So why aren't they happening?
